Emotionless
by Rafi Fishman
Summary: Midquel to the series finale, "Sweet Sixteen Surprise", which shows Anette's side of the story.
1. Chapter 1

It was Fred Leblanc's 16th birthday.  
His best friends Fabienne and GG were planning a surprise party for him. Their plan was that they would spend all day with him as usual, while Benji and his girlfriend Penelope would prepare everything for the party at Fabienne's house in the basement where everyone would surprise Fred when he got there.  
Everyone from Fred's class were invited, including Anette Freeze-Dright. She hesitated about going at first, but Fabienne, who was also _her_ best friend talked her into it.  
"C'mon, if you cared about him," she had told her, "even if he doesn't feel the same way, it would still mean a lot to me _and him_ if you had the guts to come."

Penelope was very enthusiastic about getting everyone together for the party, especially Anette. She wanted to tell everyone a secret that she thought was incredibly gossipy…

So far, everything was going well. GG and Fabienne were away with Fred, Penelope and Benji finished preparing everything, and everyone who was invited came, even Anette.  
There was just one problem.  
It was currently **7 PM** and Fred, GG, and Fabienne still weren't back yet.  
Despite that, mostly everyone continued partying anyway. Some were dancing, some were socializing, and others, like Anette, were helping themselves to the refreshments.

Just then, she overheard a conversation between Penelope and her friend, Jody.  
"They're really late, huh?" said a disappointed Penelope, "What nerve. They didn't even call. Aw shoot, now everything's ruined!"  
"Penelope," said Jody, "Tell me what's going on or I'm outa here."  
"Oh, I wanted to wait till everyone was here, but..." Penelope smiled excitedly. "I can't stand it anymore!"  
She paused to build up suspense.  
"Fred…loves…Anette!"  
Anette froze and dropped her cup of punch.  
"Wow. That's interesting," said Jody sarcastically, "You know, it's not too late to catch a movie."  
Penelope sighed.

"Benji!" Penelope yelled to her boyfriend, "Turn the music off!"  
"Huh?"  
"TURN THE MUSIC OFF!"  
So he did, much to everyone's surprise.  
"Everyone! I have an announcement to make!" said Penelope facing everyone, "Since Fred's obviously not coming, and more importantly, my gossip was anti-clamatic, this party is cancelled!"  
Everyone awwed.  
"Y'know, come to think of it," complied Benji, "Chico never really liked surprise parties. Or 'parties' in general."  
"So would everyone be so kind as to leave," continued Penelope, "so we can all put this incredibly awkward moment behind us?"  
So everyone did, rather reluctantly.

"So basically," Benji asked Penelope, "You were over-enthusiastic about setting up this party just so you can announce that Fred had a crush on Anette?"  
Penelope nodded.  
"Well, you think she feels the same way?"  
"I dunno. It's easy to tell with someone like Fred. But with Anette, it's hard to tell if she even has human feelings."  
"Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't interested in Fred at all."  
Benji then noticed Anette lying down on the couch in the middle of the room with her arms crossed.  
"Hey, Anette, the party's over," he said, "Aren't you leaving?"  
"I will soon," said Anette, "I just need some time to regain my composure."  
"Um, I dunno what that means but alright."

Eventually everyone who was at the party went home, until the only person who was left in Fabienne's basement was Anette.

So much was going on in her head.

The fact of the matter was that Anette really did have a crush on Fred. Fabienne was the only person who knew about it. Anette thought that if Fred ever felt the same way, he would've at least told his best friend. However, it's possible he didn't tell her because since she was also _her_ best friend, he'd be embarrassed each time they ran into her. It was just a hunch, since that was the exact same reason Anette was reluctant to tell Fabienne at first.  
Anette didn't always have feelings for Fred though, at least she didn't _think_ she did. It's just that she put so much focus on her artwork, that she never had time to think about being in a relationship.  
There was this one guy she dated, William Intense, only because he seemed to be as interested in art as much as she was. They started off pretty well, until William kissed Jody Goodheart behind Anette's back and she dumped him real hard. Since then, she returned back to her artwork without any cares about dating.

Until that one fateful day.

* * *

Fred was in the hospital with a broken leg.  
Anette was working on her self-portraits, as usual, when GG barged into her room with something of vital importance to tell her.  
"Fred is in love with a spellbinding woman whose uncommon beauty makes his heart sing," GG had said. Anette just looked at him in disbelief. He couldn't possibly mean…  
"And if, 'wink wink,' by some extreme coincidence I were ever to discuss it with said woman, 'wink wink'," GG continued while winking, "I would tell her to run to him as fast as her feet could carry her!" And with that, he gently pushed her away from her art all the way to his car to the hospital.  
Anette could've resisted, but as weird as it sounds, her mind started receiving many positive thoughts about Fred, which went all way back when they first met. She had always seen him as this nice, helpful, intelligent, independent young man with a great twisted sense of humor and a special blasé exterior. She always felt that way, but just didn't realize it until that one little "push".  
However, once she got to Fred's room, she saw the most unbelievable thing.  
Fanny Cotton, Fred's ex-girlfriend, was lying on top of him in a nurse's outfit!  
"Tell me you love me Fred!" she had said.  
"Yes Fanny! You're the love of my life!" Fred cried.


	2. Chapter 2

Anette was devastated and heartbroken by that scene. She left the hospital, walked all the way back home, and went back to work. However, as much as she tried, she couldn't get her feelings for Fred out of her mind. Was it because she let herself think so much about him, it was too much to forget?  
A while later, Fabienne called and told her what really happened; Fanny actually disguised herself as a nurse, attacked Fred, and attempted to infect him with a B-hairless virus. Fred most likely called her 'the love of his life' out of fear.  
"It doesn't matter", thought Anette, "I was an idiot to actually think Fred was interested in me."

* * *

And right now, she couldn't believe that Fred was in love with her. It just seemed too good to be true.  
But the question was, how long has he been in love with her? Did it start a week ago? A month ago? Ever since they first met?! And while he was in love with her, did she ever break his heart?  
Anette recalled all the many times Fred tried to get her attention. And how did Anette retaliate? She shunned him! Every time Fred made a simple mistake, even when it wasn't his fault, Anette just gave him an annoyed glance and tossed him aside without even giving him a chance to explain himself.  
Sure he eventually apologized, and she forgave him, but she still felt terrible about acting so shallow to him.

FANTASY

Anette was standing at a corner of the sidewalk, when she saw Fred walking toward her. He was smiling, and had a red-and-yellow aura surrounding him with glitter and stars.  
"Fred!"  
"Anette? What are you doing here?"  
"Waiting for you, Fred. I've been wanting to talk to you. I love you! I've never been so in love with anyone before!"  
Fred's smile suddenly turned into a frown and the aura and stars dissapeared.  
"Well, you're a little late for that," he said.  
"W-what?" gasped Anette.  
"Since all you've ever done was act so cold and emotionless to me, I now realize that all that effort I did for you was just a moldy waste of time."  
"But I'm sorry!" cried Anette, "Can't you please give me another chance?"  
Fred just glared at her and said, " **I think not**."  
Just then, Tamara Hartman appeared by Fred's side. She was smiling, wore a colorful sparkling dress, and was surrounded by butterflies and cute little animals.  
"You see," said Fred, putting her arm around Tamara, "I've moved on."  
Fred and Tamara started making out right in front of a horrified Anette.  
_

As the fantasy ended, Anette realized she was crying. She never cried like this unless she was heartbroken, or when her artwork got destroyed.

At that very moment, Anette heard the basement door open. She quickly wiped her tears and ducked behind the couch.  
She heard three pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs.  
"Nobody's here," said a familiar voice, "Moldy."  
It was Fred!  
"Because, I really wanted to see Anette and I think I finally had the guts to tell her."  
Anette couldn't believe it. "Tell me what?"  
She sat up and saw Fred, GG, and Fabienne standing on the stairway. She smiled at them.  
"Anette?" Fred gasped.  
The two teens walked up to each other until they were face-to-face and smiling at each other.  
Fabienne and GG shared surprised glances as if they didn't know what was going to happen.

"Anette, I think about you all the time," said Fred, "You're always in my dreams, I… love you."

Those were the exact words Anette wanted to hear, and she should've been happy, but still...  
"Why?" asked Anette, "After all those times I shunned you and pushed you aside, unaware of your feelings for me, I thought by now you'd see me as a completely dense and emotionless hag."  
Fred looked in concern as more tears ran down Anette's cheeks.  
"You deserve better," she said, "Someone with a more colorful exterior, like Tamara Hartman."

Fred wiped away Anette's tears, smiled, and said, "I think not."  
"B-but…", Anette started to say, but was cut off by Fred's finger on her lips.  
"You could've given me a thousand dirty looks," he said, "And I'd _still_ never give up on you. Do you know why? Because I've always known that underneath that _seemingly_ numb exterior is a nice, caring, intelligent, talented, beautiful young woman. I mean, I know it sounds kinda corny, but it's true.  
You're not emotionless, Anette Freeze-Dright. Don't you ever forget that."

Anette smiled back and stared into Fred's dark eyes. Maybe this was exactly what she needed; someone who truly understood her and could help "open her eyes" to bigger, better things.  
She put her head to Fred's ear and said, "Main bhee tumase pyaar karata hoon *****. Happy Birthday, Fred."  
Fred stared back at Anette and stroked her hair.

("What the heck are you doing?" said Fabienne to GG who turned on a radio to fitting theme music, "Turn that music down!"  
"Out of the question!" cried GG, "This is just like in the movies!")

Slowly, Fred and Anette embraced each other, then kissed.

This was truly the best sweet sixteen surprise of Fred and Anette's lives.

THE END

Thought of the day

Anette: No one's completely incapable of love, sometimes all they need is a little push…  
(Fred appears and grabs Anette closer to him)  
Fred: …or pull.  
(They smirk at each other and kiss)

 ***Hindi: मैं भी तुमसे प्यार करता हूं -I love you too**


End file.
